Alberta, Canada’s $33 billion energy industry still has plenty of room for Colorado investment.
Despite its status as one of the world’s major energy producers, Alberta needs investment capital and expertise from Colorado, Clint Dunford, minister of economic development for Alberta, said Thursday.
Dunford traveled to Denver as a follow-up to a visit to Alberta last month by a delegation of Colorado government and business leaders, including Gov. Bill Owens and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
“We’re anxious to be working together and to show that Alberta has a safe, secure supply of energy for the U.S.,” Dunford said.
Alberta and Colorado trade officials are seeking bilateral investments in energy projects.
Canada’s investment in Colorado’s energy industry is well established with $6 billion spent in recent years, primarily to acquire several of Denver’s largest independent oil and gas producers.
Colorado, however, has been a relatively small investor in Alberta’s energy industry.
Alberta has huge amounts of petroleum-rich oil sands, crude oil and natural gas. Oil sands that can be collected economically at today’s world oil prices are estimated at 175 billion barrels, making the resource second in size only to Saudi Arabian fields.
However, only 2 percent of Alberta’s oil and gas has been recovered, and just 25 percent of energy-producing land is under lease, Dunford said.
“We would like to see Colorado firms go up and lease properties and get involved with production,” he said.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
